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Hello There!I know most of you know me as The Gotham Guy: Nishkarsh Chugh but what’s better than a combined blog where you have all the stuff at only one place. This is my first official post, I’ve written twice here but that wasn’t OFFICIAL. Enough talks, I’ll be writing every Tuesday here and for some weeks, I’ll be reviewing comics and graphic novel’s of different genres, different companies and different ages. Special thanks to Mayank, without whose support we wouldn’t be able to come on a single platform and write.

So today, I’m going to review 40 Sufi Comics, short comic strips illustrating eternal truths in the teachings of Islam.

“One’s own religion is after all a matter between oneself and one’s Maker and no one else’s.

-Mahatma Gandhi

I’m a Hindu. I spent my early childhood days reading Amar Chitra Katha (because it was an easy way to understand the vast Hindu Religion) . I didn’t know about the the teachings of Holy Qur’an and Islamic Religion. Just some weeksa back, I ordered 40 Sufi Comics and some days back, it got delivered. The cover page said it all.. “Heaven is just two steps away” (read the whole review to get the answer)..

The art was beautiful, so the teachings. Each story taught a moral value, and had verses from the Qur’an and traditions with special notes from the artist. 40 Sufi Comics is actually a collection of illustrated eternal truths of life. Perhaps the strip that appealed the most to me is below:

Coming to the art, it was brilliant. Done in Photoshop on a Tablet PC in black and white, simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. Ali Vakil, the artist learnt the art of drawing comics recently, say some 2 years ago but you won’t believe it if he didn’t write it himself.

This comic just proves that anything could be taught perfectly through this medium, even to a stranger. You can read more sufi comics here: http://www.vakil.org/ and as I promised in the beginning, I’m leaving you with the answer of “How far is heaven?”